Grain-drier.



L. H. HILL.

GRAIN DRIER.

APPLICATION nun 1 113.17, 1914.

R 9 u 0 T i m 5H W &H m um mu n3 e Lm P LOU/5 M L. H. HILL.

GRAIN DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED 1 23.17, 1914.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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WITNESSES A TTUHIWEVS L. H. HILL.

GRAIN DRIER. I AYPLIGATIOH FILED FEB-1'1, 1914.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES IIITTORIVEVS touxs i1. emf, ea mnnnoms, ners era.

c ain-Damn.

Ween- Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

reiterated, Jan. 5, 1915.

Application filed February 17, 1914;. Serial No. 819,203.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L'Lonrs H. HILL, a citizenof the United States, and aresident of M neapelis, in the county of Hennepin and tate of Minnesota,have invented a new an useful Improvement Gram- Driers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

lily invention is an improvement n rain driers, and has for its objectto prov de a device of the character specified, wherein mechanism isprovided for passing the grain down an inclined rotating cylinder,provided with vanes extending longitud nally of the interior thereof forlifting portions of the grain to the top of the cylinder and droppingthem, together with other means for forcing a current of heated airthrough the cylinder in the opposite direction to the movemen of thegrain.

In the drawings :Figure 1 isa side view of the improved drier with partsin section,-

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, Eig. 3 is a detail sectional view ofa-portion of the drying cylinder showing the ,vanes, Figs. 4, and

6 are sections on the lines 4-4, 5-5, and 6%6, respectively, looking inthe direction of he arrows adjacent to the said lines.

he .p fesent embodiment of the invention comprises a body in the form ofa plate 1, to which are connected front and rear axles 2 and 3respectively, and braces 4 and 5 are arranged between the axles and thebody.

The rear axle is provided with wheels 6, and the front axle is providedwith wheels 7, and a tongue 8 is connected to the axle for permittingthe attachment of dr ft animals or apparatusfor moving the mac ine.

A motor 9 of any desired construction, as

* for instance a liquid fuel engine, is supported by the body near thefrontexle, and

thepiston rod 10 of the said motor is cone-V nected to a crank 11 on acrank shaft 12, which is journaled in bearings 13 on the frame 14 of themotor. A fly wheel 15 is secured to the'shaft outside of the frame, anda pulle 16 is secured to the shaft outside of the y wheel. A belt 17connects the pulley 16 with a pulley 18 on a shaft 19 supported by abearing standard 20 arising from the plate or ody 1. beveled gear wheel21 is secured o the, shaft on the other side of the standards fromthepulley, and a I ines 21 Omaha lower. end or. vertical shaft'22' mesheswith the'g'ear ar a. he

shaft 22, is supported by a bearing bracket 23, extendin laterallyfrom'an arch bar 24, connected with the body, and the upper end of theshaft 22 extends above an arm 25 to be later described, the upper end ofthe shaft being journaled in the arm and in an overlying bearing arm 26at the upper side of the arm. A wheel 27 is secured to the shaft betweenthe arms 25 and 26, for a purpose to be presently described, and thesaid wheel 27 is designed to rotate the drying cylinder in the form of acasing 30, supported above the-arm 25. The casing 30 is supported forrotationv in bearing segments 31, one of the said segments beingsupported on the upper en of the arch bar 24 before mentioned, and t esaid segment carries the arm 25 just described. Each of the segments 30is grooved on its inner face, and supporting wheels 32 are arranged inthe grooves, the said wheels being supported by shafts 33, arrangedtransversely of the groove and engaged with the bearing ring at eachside of the groove.

Theca'sing 30 isprovided with an annular guideway at each se ment, eachguideway.

and the said wheel engages one face of the ring, theiother face beingengaged by a Wheel 36, ournaled on a stub shaft 37 extending upwardlyfrom a carriage 38, which is mounted to slide in a guideway 39, in thearm 25 before mentioned. A set screw 40 is engaged at its inner end withthe carriage,

the said screw being threaded through an upstanding lug 41 at the outerend of the guideway. It will be evident that by turning the screw, thecounterpressure exerted by the wheel 36 as opposed'to thewheel 27 may bevaried. The wheel 27 rotates the casing 30 by its engagement with theface of the rin 35.

lit 'w1ll be noted from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2 that the casing30 inclines upwardly toward its rear end and also inclines inwardly. Thefront end of the casing is at the side of the plate 1, while the rearend is near the longitudinal center of the said plate. The bearingsegment 31 at 4 the front of the frame is as before stated,

the bottom and is then bent on the arch bar 24, while the bearing ,seg-I ment at the rear of the frame is supported by a similar arch bar 24.

. The front end ofthe casing 30 is closed by a head42, and the casing isprovided with an annular series of openings 43 near its forward end. Anannular casing 44 is arranged on the casing 30 at the opening 43, andthe said casing 44 fits the outer surface of the casing 30 at oppositesides of the open ings, so that anything passing through the openings 43from the casmg 30 would be received in the casing 44 and the said casingis provided with an outlet 45, extending to the under face of the plate1, at the side adjacent to the arch bar 24 and forwardly of the saidarch bar. An expansion head in the form of a cylindrical casing 46 isarranged within the casing 30 at the casing 44, and the side walls ofthe said casing 46 are perforate as shown. The casing 46 is of greaterlength than the casing 44 and extends beyond the respective ends of the.said casing, and the said casing 46 is supported co-axially with thecasing 30. A pipe 47 extends from the front end of the casing 46 throughthe head 42 of the casing 30 at the center thereof, and thencedownwardly as shown at 48 to near the upper surface of theplate 1, andthen rearwardly as shown at 49 to the casing 50 of a centrifugal fan orblower, the pipe opening into the fan casing tangentially as, shown inFig. l. The fan casing is provided with an axial inlet pipe 51, whichextends into a heater 52, to be later described, supported on the body1' at the rear axle. The pipe 51 opens into the heater 52 at the frontend thereof and near upwardly as shown at 53 to near the top of theheater,

where the said pipe is provided with a rear-- wardly extending inlet 54.The fan or blower (not shown) within the casing 50 is connected to theend of the shaft 19, which extends into the casing, and it will beevident that when the said shaft is rotated, the fan or blower will beoperated to withdraw air from the heater through the pipe 51 53- 54, andto deliver it through the pipe 474849. a

A grate 55 is arranged transversely of the heater at the rear thereof,the said grate being spaced above the bottom plate 1 as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 6, and the heater is provided with a feeding chute56 above the grate and at its rear end, and with a door 57 below thegrate, the door 57 being for the removal of ashes and cinders, and

the door 57 is provided with a damper as shown at 58, in order that thedraft may be regulated, and the side .wall of the heater is,

provided with a series of openings 59 at each side below the grate.

The heater is of any preferred type andis designed to burn straw, woodor other fuel, and the forward portion of the heater, (that portion infront of the. arch bar 24) is a hot-air chamber. A smoke stack 60 isprovided at the front end of the heater for permitting the escape ofsmoke and the like. The rear arch bar 24" is braced at each side and inopposite directions by means of inclined braces 61 and 62, and a hopper63 is arranged above the rear end of the casing 30, the said hopperhaving a feed chute 64 which opens into the rear end of the said casmg.

The hopper is supported by brace bars 65 and 66, the bars 65 hearing attheir lower ends against the outer surface of the heater lower ends withthe arch bar 24. The arch bars 24 and 24 are of channel material asshown, and the rear bar 24 is spaced above the top of the heater asshown more particularly in Fig. 6. A horizontal partition 55 is arrangedtransversely above the feed opening 56, and below the inlet 54 of thefan. i Thefront end of the partition is spaced apart from the front endof the heater.

It will be noted from an inspection of Figs. 3, 5 and 6, that blades orvanes 67 are arranged within the casing 30, the said blades or vanesextending longitudinally of the casing. Each blade or vane is provldedwith an angular portion 68 at one side edge which fits against the innersurface of the casing 30, and is secured thereto in any suitable manner,while the body of the blade or vane extends into the interior of thecasing. The vanes or blades extend in the same direction that the casingis rotated, and the said vanes or blades extend to near the ex pansionhead 46 at their front ends.

The operation of the improved drier is as follows :After a fire has beenmade in the heater to provide a sufiicient suppl of heated air, themotor 9 which may be 0 desired character, is started. The grain or othermaterial to hopper 63 and passes by way of the chute 64 into the dryingcylinder or casing 30, and since the said cylinder inclines downwardlytoward its front or delivery end the gra' or other material will flowdownwardly. The cylinder is rotating slowly, and as the grain flowsdownwardly through the cylin-' der, portions thereof will be lifted bythe vanes and will be carried to the upper side of the cylinder and willbe dropped on to the bottom ofthe cylinder, and this lifting of portionsof the grain to thoroughly mix and stir the same will continue until thegrain has passed ofi of the lower ends of the vanes. While the cylinderis rotating heated air is being withdrawn from the heater by the fan orblower, and the said air is being passed into the expansion head 46. Theexpansion head admits the heated air to the cylinder any from theperforations of the expansion head,

and the grain finall asses out b'y way of the openings t3 an t edischarge pipe 45 into bags or other receiving means. The dryingcylinder is rotated from shaft 22,

through the friction engagement of the wheel 27 with the ring 35. Theweight of the cylinder is supported by the segmental bearing brackets orsegments 31, and the tension between the wheel 27 and the ring may bevaried by means of the set screw 40. The am will be thoroughly anduniformly dried durin its passage through the drying cylinder. he fan orblower is continuously withdrawing the heated air from the heater andforcing it through the grain in the drying cylinder. The vanes 67 arecontinuously lifting portions of the grain to the top of the c hnder anddischarging the said portions ownwardl in the best .possible manner, tosubject t e individual grains to the drying jefiect of the heated air.

The feeding of the grain may be regulated in accordance with conditionsas for instance, in accordance with the conditions of the grain asregards, moisture.

The machine, as-a whole, is portable, and many changes might be made inthe construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. Itwill be noted from an inspection of Fig. 1 that the forward arch w th.

hilt

bar 24 is braced by inclined braces 69, the said braces extending fromthe plate or body 1 to the segmental bearing bracket.

The essential feature of the invention is the manner in which. the grainis broughtranged above the support, said cylinder inclining upwardly andinwardly toward its rear end, arch bars arranged transversely of thesupport near the ends thereof, an arcshaped bearing bracket on eacharch-bar, wheels journaled-in each bracket, the cylinder having annular.guideways in which the wheels are received for supporting the cylinderfor rotating movement, a discharge pipe leading from the fan to thelower end of the drying cylinder and extending into the said cylinder atthe axis of the same, a perforate expansion head connected with thedischarge pipe in the cylinder, an annular casing encircling. thecylinder near the lower end thereof, said cylinder having an annularseries of openings for permit ting the grain to pass from the cylinderinto the annular casing, said casing having a discharge o'utlet nieahslat rotating the drier, a lnotor tn the Shanta, and driving cohnec'tionsbetween the said mhtor, the fan and the rotating means of the cylinder,ahd vanes ei ten'dihg longitudinally bf the interior of the cylinder forlifting the grain as the cylinder rotates. I

2. A machine of the character specified, comprising a wheeled support,arch bars arranged transversely of the support near the ends thereof, abearin bracket on each arch bar, a drying 'cylin er supported forrotation in the bearing brackets, said cylindei' inclining upwardlytoward its rear end, the cylinder having an annularseries of dischargeopenings near its lower end, an. annular receiving casing encircling thcylinder at the openings for receiving the grain delivered through theopenings, means for supplying heated air to the lower end of thecylinder, and a common means for rotatin'g the cylinder and foroperating the heated air supplying means, an expansion head Within thedrying cylinder near the openings with which the heated air supplying asubstantially cylindrical casing supported coaxial with the dryingcylinder and having a perforate wall..

3. A machine of the character specified, comprising awheeled support,arch bars arranged transversely of the support near the ends thereof, abearing bracket on each arch bar, a drying cylinder'su'pported forrotation in the bearing brackets, said cylinder inclining upwardlytoward its rear end, the cylinder having an annular series of dischargeopenings near its lower end, an annular receiving casing encircling thecylinder at the openings for receiving the grain delivered through theopenings, means for.

supplying heated air to the lower end of the cylinder, a common meansfor rotating the cylinder and for operating the heated air supplyingmeans, and an expansion head within the drying cylinder near theopenings with whichthe heated air supplying means is connected.

4. A machine of the character specified, comprising a wheeled support,arch bars arranged transversely of the support near the ends thereof, abearing bracket on each arch bar, a drying cylinder sup orted forrotation in the bearing brackets, said cylinder inclining upwardlytowardits rear end, the cylinder having an annular series of dischargeopenings near its lower end, an annular receiving casing encircling thecylinder near the openings for receiving the grain delivered through theopenings, 7 means for supplying heated airito the lower end of thecylinder, and a common means for rotating the cylinder and Y fied,adrying cylinder,

for operating the heated air supplying means.

5. In a machine of the character specimeans for supporting the cylinderfor rotation on its axis and in inclined position, means at the upperendof the cylinder for feeding gram axially to the cylinder, means forrotating the cylinder, means for forcing heated air.

- into; the lower'end of the cylinder, the cylinderhaving a dischargeopening near the lower end, means at the opening for receivig the driedgrain, and an expansion head within the cylinder at the lower endthereof to. which the air forcing means delivers. 6. In a machine of thecharacter specified, a cylinder, bearing brackets for supporting thecylinder for rotation on its axis, a driving shaft. perpendicular to theam's of the cylinder, a ring secured to the it in adjusted position.

7. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a dryingcylinder rotatably supported on an incline, a removable head fitting thelower end of said cylinder and having a central opening therethrough, a

pipe communicating with a suitable air supply and extendin through theopenin in the removable end of said cylinder an an expansion headsecured to the end of said pipe within said cylinder formedsubstantiaily cylindrical and of perforated materla .8'. In a machine-ofthe class described, in combination, a pair of semi-circular brackets, aplurality of rollers journaled in each of said brackets and projectingbeyond the inner peripheral face thereof, a drying cylinder havingcircumferential rings arranged in pairs, the rings of each pair fittingeach side the-rollers to each of said brackets, a friction ring securedcircumferentially around said cylinder, afriction Wheel bearing againstone side face of said friction ring, means for rotating said frictionwheel, and a friction roller adjustably arranged on ,the side face ofsaid friction ring opposite said friction Wheels.

9. In a'machine of the class described, in combination, a dryingcylinder rotatably supported on an incline, an expansion head ofperforate material within the cylinder at the lower end thereof, and apipe connected with the head and extending through the adjacent end ofthe cylinder at the center thereof, the cylinder being rotatable withrespect to the pipe.

- LOUIS H. HILL: Witnesses:

HARRY Ravroz, LEWIS Josnrn.

